Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. It belongs to the creators of the show. However, I do have one request though. It's a simple request really. Please don't "plagiarize" off my written work, which includes original characters/places/names/chapter ideas. I mean if you want to use something that I have written out. That I have worked very hard on and spent many hours reediting, please show some courtesy and ask me first, okay, Thanks – Razzleteddy

A/N: Thanks for reading :) Here's chapter 3 :) Enjoy! –- Razzleteddy

Cry of Echoes

In a dim room with walls covered with dust and rotted wood. Two men in black stood around a table as they waited for the third one to return with tonight's plans. The feeling of slight eagerness added to the already dense air when one of the men huffed impatiently. "Where the hell is Washi?" he grumbled before he glanced at his watch, "We better get going if gonna snatch the kid."

"Come down Toson, all right. He's coming." The other man replied coolly then pinched his eyes closed. He couldn't believe on what he was about to do, sure he kidnapped plenty of people before no problem… but kids. He inhaled a deep breath. He had trouble wrapping the thought around his mind.

"Well he's sure as hell taking his sweet ass time." Toson shook his head a little then ran a hand through his greased blond hair. He felt a bit anxious about the job but excited at the same time as well.

The other man viewed up the door to the room while it creaked open. His face went blank while he stared as Washi the other blond-haired person strolled into the room. A devilish smirk graced his lips and plans tucked under his arm. He sighed again and almost hated that smirk of his, "Let's hurry up, okay. We're running out of time here," he had a hint of distaste in his tone.

"You know Eizo." Washi chuckled as he strolled up to the table, "By the sound of your voice you don't like me very much, do you?" He lined his face with some amusement.

Eizo just crossed his arms smoothly against his chest. "No."

Washi smirked more, "Aww you're so sweet." He chuckled even more while he watched the other guy just lock his jaw in place. "Now, let's refresh ourselves. Remember the boss doesn't want any screw ups." He tossed the plans down upon the table and rolled it out, it revealed the layout of Kaiba manor covered with hit points.

"Toson," he switched his voice to seriousness, "You take out these guards here while I take these guards here." He then pointed to another part of the map, "Eizo, you head to the other side and take out those guards there. When you're done, defuse the alarm system and give us the single. Toson and I will be waiting for it." He turned back to the other blond-haired person, "Toson."

"Yeah," Toson straightened up as he studied the map closely.

"When that happens we go in, clear the rest of the place out and get the kid."

"Wait a sec." Eizo interrupted him for a brief moment, "How do we know the kid will even be there?"

"The boss will call us and let us know the go ahead." Washi then creased his brow, "All right, everyone down with this." When he finished explaining the routine, he looked up to the other two and saw a confirmed nod from both of them. "Good." He straightened himself up, "Go wait in the van while I go inform the boss." With that, he strolled out of the room and to where his boss was.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The man peered out the window with stone cold eyes as he watched the sun set in the distant. It was getting dark across the horizon and in a little while, he would have the boy in his grasp, he curled his lip. He couldn't wait for the game to begin he laughed some. However, he pondered over the boy more he felt a hint of sorrow passed through his tainted soul…

"Excuse me Baiko."

He heard one of his associates say interrupting his juggled thoughts. He sighed with no emotion while he hardened his face once again. "Yes Washi," he replied in the same way, with no emotion.

"Everything's all set up." Washi smirked a little just as emotionless as his boss was, maybe even more so, "You want to take a look at the room."

Baiko took a moment before he turned around with a grin. "Of course…" he walked out of the room, down a dim hallway and into another room then looked around, "Very good. I think he'll enjoy this quite nicely."

Washi smirked more, "I'm glad you approve sir."

"Now," Baiko enlaced his hands behind his back, "Go and bring him here to me unspoiled." He faced him with pierced eyes to make sure he got his point across. "And remember…" he smirked at him, "Kill anyone that gets in your way."

"As you wish," Washi nodded then turned around and left to do his task.

Baiko smiled while he spun around the room gleefully. "Oh this is going to be so much fun!" he then went over to a dresser and picked up a frame roughly. He viewed the photo with hate in his cold eyes. "Let's just see how smart your really are Seto," he gazed at it for a moment then settled it back down and skipped out of the room to go to his own task.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Seto walked into the living room with his case of cards in hand and dressed in his usual outfit. He smiled somewhat to himself as he spotted his little brother on the floor playing Kingdom Hearts Two and most definitely lost in the game. He just shook his head with amusement as he waited for Joey to join him, however, a few minutes pass before he looked at the clock with a brief sigh. It was about eight-forty-five on the dot. He furrowed his brow somewhat. "Well... we're about to leave here," he announced, he settled his case down and began to put on his coat.

Mokuba looked over his shoulder somewhat, "Okay, bye," he said quickly then returned to his game, he was on world seven and boy was it tough.

Seto just crossed his arms at the quick response. "Okay, bye. Is that all I get?" He teased a little. "I know you're busy saving the world and all. But I would like a hug goodbye here," he softened his face but only for his brother.

"Oh I'm sorry big brother," Mokuba paused the game. He jumped up on his feet then went over and embraced him warmly. "You have fun tonight and be sure to win," he gave him a wink.

"Right," Seto hugged him back before he furrowed his brow more, "You sure you don't want to come?"

"Naah, I see you duel before. I want to finish my game." Mokuba replied but then looked on worriedly when he noticed his brother's slight frown. "Unless you want me to come along," he then added in.

"Oh no, that's okay Mokuba." Seto patted his back reassuringly. He wanted to show him that it was all right to stay home. He didn't want to make his brother do anything he didn't want to do, even though he would have enjoyed his support but sure didn't need it. "Besides, it is a school night so you stay home and enjoy yourself."

Mokuba smiled back, "Thanks Seto." He gave him a final hug glad that Seto wasn't upset with him, disappointed maybe but he knew his big brother would get over it. So, with that, he released him and hurried back to his game.

"Come on Seto, everybody's probably waiting for us by now."

Seto faced around slowly and smiled as Joey entered the room. The blond mutt looked very attractive as always and he couldn't help but gaze in a dream. "My..." he whispered just a tab.

"What?" Joey viewed him curiously.

"Huh? Oh, nothing..." Seto trailed off while he thought privately to himself. He smirked a little before he faced his little brother once more. "We'll see you later. Don't stay up too late, remember you have school. Okay Mokie."

"Okay Seto." Mokuba shifted himself into a different position. "Bye Joey," he waved a goodbye to him also before he finally returned to his game with eagerness.

"Bye Mok."

"Nanny, Jonathan!" Seto called out to them, "We'll probably be home late!" When he heard a good luck remark followed by a don't worry about Mokuba one, he nodded with satisfaction, he strolled over Joey and grasped his arm, "Let's go."

"You look so handsome tonight," Joey followed him outside with a smile on his face while they walked into the chilly air. He sighed contently, "You really do," he smiled more as he strolled along with him toward the car.

"So do you..." Seto returned the compliment with a half a smile but only for a second.

"What? This old this thing nahhh," Joey gave him a teasing wink which caused Seto to laugh slightly. He smiled. He loved to hear him laugh even though it was rarity for him. He then rutted his brow, "Are you ready?"

Seto shrugged as usually, "I suppose I am," he pictured his strategy in his mind so to go over it again.

"Well try to go easy on Yami okay, I mean…" Joey patted his love's shoulder with a small smirk on his face, "Try to have a least some fun."

"Please, this is a duel match. It's not supposed to be fun." Seto hardened his face a bit seriously while he suddenly thought of the trick Yami pulled on him earlier. He narrowed his eyes and swore to get even with the spike-haired goody-two-shoes.

Joey just rolled his eyes as they finally approached the ready car. He smiled warmly at Mr. Fields, Seto's long-time driver, who waited patiently for them. "Hey Charlie," he greeted the dark-haired man who sported his usual outfit, a whit crisp shirt, black vest and polka dot bow-tie.

"Joseph." Mr. Fields greeted back as they approached him. He then turned his attention to his boss. "Here you are Master Seto, your car is already." He opened the door with a warm smile for Joey first and got a thank you in return. He then went to the other side and opened the door for Seto next.

"Thanks Charles."

Mr. Fields nodded with the same smile on his face. He creased his brow somewhat worriedly. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you there?"

"You know Charles..." Seto leaned out of the window with a confident look on his face and his all so usual smirk. He furrowed his brow a bit, "I'm more than capable to drive myself once in a while."

Mr. Fields straightened up, "Of course you are sir," He hoped he didn't offend him.

Seto just gave him a relax grin that hinted that he wasn't upset with him. "We'll be home late. I'm counting on you guys to take care of things here while I'm gone," he gave him a serious look but only for a moment, he knew that they would.

"You just have fun tonight Master Seto." Mr. Fields reached in and gave him a pat on his shoulder, "And don't worry everything will be fine here, promise. Now you better hurry."

Seto nodded then leaned back into the car, "Thanks Charles," he finally relaxed his nerves before he took off in full speed. In the rearview mirror, he saw Mr. Fields just waved a goodbye to him.

However with Seto's driving…

It didn't take long for them to arrive there at the Domino's Dueling Ring. Seto inhaled a deep breath and leaned back while he parked at the main entrance. "Well, here we are my pet."

Joey just rolled his eyes at that typical comment before he looked at his watch with some worry. He sighed to himself when he felt his nerves jump a bit. "I hope we're not late, I mean the tournament starts at nine and all," he mumbled as it read his watch eight fifty-eight.

"Of course not," Seto patted his hand reassuringly. He smirked again and felt excited to be here, almost, but he just couldn't resist a good duel. With that swirling around in his mind, he got out of the car and walked round to where Joey was then grasped his hand and proceeded inside.

The minute they've walked in they were overwhelmed with lights, crowds, screams from fans and all sorts of things, which Seto hated. Still he had been in the spotlight plenty of times before so he was use to that kind of thing.

He sighed deeply and almost wished that he hadn't come and just stayed home instead. He never really enjoyed being in this kind of attention. In fact, it was nerve-racking for him to deal with all the time.

Joey on the other hand loved the attention and couldn't help but viewed around with delight in his eyes. "Man is this so cool or what!" he shouted over the noise.

"Yeah, sure," Was Seto's only reply, he lead him toward the check-in area.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jin looked at his watch and wondered where Seto was. He hoped his friend hadn't changed his mind and decided not to show up, that would surely be a huge disaster for him and the center. He had promise the children and he hated to disappoint them. He sighed, "Where is he?" he looked around.

Yami smiled a little and comforted his shoulder with his hand, "Don't worry Jin." He creased his brow softly, "I'm sure Seto is on his way," he reassured him. "Joey said Seto would be here if he had to drag him kicking and screaming," he chuckled a bit.

Jin looked over to him and creased his worried brow. "I hope you're right."

Bakura then viewed up and caught a glimpse of them headed their way. "Well looked who've finally showed up," he pointed out while everyone turned around then spotted Seto and Joey heading to where they were.

Jin let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness," he then grinned.

Yami relaxed his body relieved on the sight of Seto. His friend indeed headed their way with his case of cards in hand and a look of determination plastered on his face. He drew in a very calm breath before he smirked to himself, "Well… I'll be damned. He did show up after all."

"Of course he would. You should know by now…" Marik replied as he crossed his arms with some amusement in his voice. "The great Seto Kaiba never backs down from a challenge." He laughed a bit, "Especially from you Yami," he smirked at him.

"I know, good trick huh." Yami gave him a wink, which caused the other two the laugh aloud.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Meanwhile, Yugi rubbed his forehead as he waited for Joey and Seto to arrive. He couldn't help but worry though. He knew how Seto felt about charity events and being a spectacle in the form of entertainment. However, it's so important for the children's center he just prayed that their friend would show up tonight.

"Hey, here they come!"

Yugi perked up when he heard Ryou called out with excitement. He then beamed from ear to ear when he spotted them with his own eyes. "Hey guys!" he waved at them excitedly before he took off in a short run to meet them.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Seto strolled to the table where the check-in was with a blank face and being pestered all the way there. Boy, how he hated charities. On the other hand, Joey just looked around as he loved it all and felt right at home. He just smiled this goofy grin as he geared up for the event, "Boy, I can't wait to start dueling, right Seto!"

"Please." Seto rolled his eyes a bit then viewed the variety of challengers that been selected to participate in the charity duel. "You call these losers competition." He gave out a short huff, "I knew I should've stayed home."

Joey just shook his head amusingly at that comment. He looked ahead of him and spotted Yugi coming toward them with the same look as his. He grinned at him, "Hey Yug!" he waved back glad to see his friend was there to greet them.

Yugi ran up to them and beamed from ear to ear, "Hey Joey, hey Seto!" He gave each of them a welcoming smile especially to Seto. "Glad you've made it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Seto glared down upon the smiling teen, "Where's that brother of yours?"

"Yami…? Oh, he's over there by the check-in Set," Yugi smiled more. He wouldn't let Seto's none caring attitude ruin his good mood. He inhaled a deep breath still glad that Seto was there even though his friend didn't want to be. However, a challenge was a challenge for Seto Kaiba, "Come on, everyone's waiting for us."

"I'm sure." Seto pushed his way past him and on to where the others were.

Yugi frowned a little before he was comforted by Joey's hand on his shoulder. He then looked up to him with his usual smile before he grasped his hand and pulled him along the rest of the way, "Come on Joey."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"All right, I'm here." Seto finally approached them while he felt impatient. He threw a small glare to Yami who stood there with a smirk. He narrowed his eyes a little, "Let's duel," he breathed out.

However, Marik just crossed his arms amusedly while he viewed his friend's blanked filled face. "Well Seto Kaiba," he let a short laugh. "So you've decided to grace us here with your presence," he joked.

"Yeah, I know it's not common for you to socialize yourself with the wee folk." Bakura smirked as well at the already annoyed look on his friend's face. Boy, how he loved to tick off him sometimes.

"Well, m-maybe we should have worn masks then love. That way he won't get embarrassed." Marik added in with another loud laugh as he enjoyed the annoyed look on Seto's face as well.

Seto narrowed his eyes even more when he saw everyone engaged into laughter. Why did he ever agreed to this was beyond him. "Very funny," he growled at them while they still laughed at him, "Shut up!" he shouted as he finally had enough.

"Oh Set. They were just teasing you," Jin grinned. He went over and patted his friend's back. "I'm glad you made it here anyway."

"Mmm," Seto mumbled in his usual stale tone. He then turned to Yami as he ignored them. "I hope you're prepared for some humiliation tonight Yami," he glared at him more.

"Oh come on now Set. This is all for just fun and charity." Yami simply wished his friend wouldn't take things so seriously. "All that stuff I've said earlier was just for teasing, that's all," he held his hand out for a friendly shake and hoped to ease him down, but of course, Seto wouldn't go for it.

"Feeling regrets Yami." Seto smirked with his same old smirk and didn't make a motion to shake his hand. He huffed instead, "Well you should be. I-" he started to said when he was interrupted.

"Oh for goodness sakes Seto," Joey scolded a little as he arrived in time to view Seto's form of intimidation. "Don't be such a dick and shake his hand," he warned him with a look.

Seto rolled his eyes again and peered over to Joey who still warned him with a look. "Fine," he reached out and grasped Yami's hand firmly but with no hostility behind it. The truth of the matter was, he knew his friend's words was all for fun so he didn't really take it to heart. That was how he duels. He had to intimidate his peers if he wanted to win.

Yami shook his hand back with a warm smile and was glad it been settled between them. "So, where's Mokuba?" he looked around for moment and hoped to spot the boy, "Did you bring him along?"

"No." Seto released his hand with sigh, "He decided to stay home besides it's a school night and," he pointed to the other two who kept snickering at him. "I didn't want to socialize him with these two buffoons here." He narrowed his eyes for a moment.

Yami turned slightly to Bakura and Marik with an understanding nod. "Yeah, I can understand that." He viewed back somewhat concerned, "Are you sure that's wise to leave him alone. I mean with Roland gone and all?" he creased his brow. He knew how important security was to him.

Seto sighed himself, he was a little nervous. Roland had taken a week off to go visit his mother security was left in hands of the other guards. But he felt that it was fine. He was about to reply when somebody interrupted him.

"Well Mr. Kaiba, you made it! You gentlemen ready for the tournament!"

Seto turned around and saw Mr. Ross, one of his long-time associate to his company. The older gentlemen went up to them with a smile on his face. He noticed his friend's blue clean-cut suit and creased his brow. He wondered what he was doing here, "Hello Jon. What are you doing here?" he reached out to shake his hand.

"Oh, I've asked him if he could host of this whole thing." Jin interjected.

"Oh." Seto just nodded.

Mr. Ross smiled as looked around, "Where's Mokuba, hasn't he come?" he viewed over to Seto.

Seto just shook his head, "He's at home. I didn't want him out too late." He smirked somewhat, "It's a school night after all," he explained.

Mr. Ross just nodded, "Of course," he smiled again, "Well if you're ready then follow me." He motioned the ones that were dueling to follow him up on stage with the others competitors were which they did. The rest of the group hurried to their arranged seats filled with excitement.

Mr. Ross went to the microphone and cleared his throat loudly. He then smiled out toward the crowd, "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. May I have you attention please?" he waited a moment or two while the room went to a calm silence.

"I'm glad you all made it and welcome to the Best of the Best Tournament! I am your host Jon Ross and you may already know the great dueling champion… Mr. Yami Moto!" he yelled clearly into the mic as the crowd went wild, they cheered and howled with praise for Yami.

"Thank you I'm honored to be here." Yami began as he watched Seto clenched his teeth tightly in corner of his eye. He understood Seto's feelings and knew he had better make this short which he did.

Seto couldn't help but huff at that as he felt his blood heated up just a tab. Someday he vowed to win back that title that rightfully belonged to him, even if he killed him. He shook his head a little as watched Yami with envy eyes. "Dueling champion, get me a break..." he huffed once again, "I should be up there not him."

Joey rolled his eyes. He rubbed his shoulder with some comfort, "Come on Seto. Relax, okay," he whispered to him. He then turned back to the crowd.

Mr. Ross then took back the microphone, "Thank you, Mr. Moto, we're glad to have you here." He gave him a smile before his faced the crowd again. "And also dueling here with us we have…" he continued with the introduction, "The great Seto Kaiba. The spunky Joseph Wheeler…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At the same time…

Toson pulled the black van near the Kaiba's mansion ever so quietly and shut off the engine. Then they all sat there and waited eagerly for a call from their boss with word to go ahead. Twenty minutes had past when finally the call came in. Washi then answered it hurriedly, "Yeah… Okay…" he hung up quick, "Let's go." He grinned while he viewed the place from the distant, "You know the plan." He faced both of them with seriousness, "Don't screw this up," he ordered with a stern look.

"Where's the kid located?" Eizo viewed the home, he sighed a little to himself, "It's a big place."

Washi only smirked, "I've already got that covered." He looked at the car clock, "Nine-twenty-two. He's already had his dinner so he should be in the living room right about now watching TV or something," he said matter-of-factly as he turned to study the household again.

The other two men nodded their heads while Washi then sucked in a breath "Remember, don't harm the kid. Baiko wants him unspoiled." He faced them once more with a cold stare in his eyes, "You got it."

Toson nodded while he put his silencer in his pocket, "Piece of cake." He replied before he got out of the car with a sneer. Eizo nodded as well and put a syringe in his pocket then followed out after him. Washi the last one to get out, he put his own silencer in his pocket and grabbed a knapsack then followed them toward the mansion quick as shadows.

Thanks for Reading :) Please, Review :) - Razzleteddy